Is my child ready for Kindergarten?

How do you know when your child is ready for kindergarten? My DD has been in preschool/pre-K now for 2 years. She turns 5 at the beginning of August. Her pre-K teacher says she's ready intellectually and socially for Kindergarten, but that she would benefit from being held back when it comes to maturity and size - she's small for her age (in the 7-10% for height). I'm afraid she may get bored if she does another year of pre-K, but I'm also wondering if she may get frustrated if she goes on to Kindergarten and can physically do some of the things her classmates can do. She's 4 and already reading some books and doing some addition and subtraction, but she can't skip and can't dribble a ball. I know she's got a little over 6 months until school starts and a lot can change between now and then. Any feedback?

Comments (20)

My daughter was fully ready for kindergarten. Another year wasn't going to make her taller so that's a pretty silly reason to hold back IMO. She's the shortest kid in K (about 41 inches) for sure and she probably would be if she waited another year!

Please don't hold her back on size alone. DD (4.5 years) is in a tumbling class with 5 and 6 year olds, I would say half cannot skip yet. On her basketball team (also 5 and 6 year olds) most cannot dribble one handed. What you are describing is completely developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old.

Intellectual and social readiness are much more important. My DD is a middle of August baby and will start K this fall.

I agree. Holding back for size is crazy. My son is also very short but academically was beyond ready. He is also not going to be an athlete so there are tons of physical things his friends can do that he can't. It's all part of life. If she is is ready academically and socially, she's ready. She will not grow socially if she spends another year socializing with 4 year olds.

I'd send her. My son is almost 7 and is in grade 1. He has a condition that affects him physically, so he is behind on gross motor skills. He does the best that he can, and the is all I expect of him. He is very smart and he is allowed to go to the grade 2 room for reading because the stuff for grade 1 is too easy for him, and he would refuse to do it because it was "baby stuff". It sounds like your little girl will need to be challenged, and she won't be if she is held back.

It sounds like she is ready. I wouldn't let her height make you hold her back another year. She would be so bored taking preschool for another year, especially if she is starting to read and doing basic math. I'm 5'1" and was always one of the shortest in my class. Even if I had been held back a year I would have still been one of the shortest. Social and intellectual readiness is way more important.
Also, children change a lot in 6 months! When my son was near the end of his second year of preschool, I was really worried that he wouldn't do well and wasn't ready. He matured so much over the summer and was very ready when he started in August.

Preschool teacher here too and that seems like a poor reason to wait. If you do have some concerns about her physical ability maybe sign her up for some movement type classes. Gymnastics or dance maybe? But that is no reason to keep her back. If she is starting to read and do basic math and is socially mature she is ready.

My DD is a late June baby, September 1 cut off here, and we sent her this year at 5. She's not small but she has sensory processing disorder and is quite behind on gross motor skills. She has learned to skip in the past few weeks and has gone from reading nothing but her name to 30 sight words and sounding out others. She's not the strongest socially, but neither are my DH and I so I don't know that another year would have mattered.

A friend of mine did hold her DD back this year based on size and maturity. Her DD is doing really well in preschool and it was clearly the right decision for them. So to each their own.